When I think back to what has resonated with me the most from this class, the research process comes to mind. I will admit to being naive, I just assumed the research process was a little more black and white. Now I understand how many different factors can color the process. There was discussion in my History of Youth Literature class concerning the fairness of certain book award criteria. For example the Coretta Scott King Award can only be won by an African American author. An author of another color could write an outstanding book about African Americans, but is not eligible to be recognized by this specific award. It makes me wonder about research as well. Should research about specific ethnic groups be conducted by researchers within that ethnic group? And if so, how does that alter the results. Can someone outside the ethnic group really have a through understanding of the subjects? I understand the importance of differences of cultures and ethniticities. Many experiences are similar because we are human beings, but that could just be my naivete.

The Dynamic Youth Services textbook has been my favorite so far. I am not yet done with it, but find it very exciting. How nerdy is that! I find it exciting because it makes me feel empowered to address issues at my library in a way that is research based and gets staff on board. Working in a small town library has its advantages and its disadvantages. One disadvantage is the lack of influence from the outside library world. I really want to approach our director about doing an Outcome-Based Planning and Evaluation in the youth services department. Actually, I think the whole library would benefit from one. Last week I was looking over circulation statistics and noticed that circ is down across the board in all departments. It would be great to know why. Technology usage is up, and it seems reasonable that more people can't afford the Internet at home. I think I am going to start with a single program evaluation, that will involve only me and my staff. After gaining some experience and confidence, then I could go to the director.

I can't believe so much time has passed since my last entry. The semester is flying by! Our readings for the three weeks of discussion really caused me to think. There is so much to take into account when conducting research and yet, there is no way to be completely unbiased and neutral. A person's race can interfere with the gathering and interpretation of data and they may be totally unaware. Until reading the Taft article, I didn't know that the white culture ignores race. It's not an "We are the World" mentality, but like it is wrong to bring attention to the differences. It has made me reflect on how I treat non-white patrons and what the library looks like to people of color. Our library board is all white as is our Friends Group and all the staff except an African American high school page and a clerk with an Egyptian linage. I wonder if we even see the whiteness of our world.

I assumed the Distributed Group Project and the Literature Review would help me find a resolution to the issue of rewards for our local summer reading program. As I have been planning the impending winter reading program, I realize that I am still ambivalent about what to do. Research indicates that rewards do help certain students with low-interest tasks. Will the children who consider the public library program a low-interest task participate? Parents will push and insist, but that turns the reading program away from a low-interest task into a power struggle between parent and child. I really want to keep on disliking Oriental Trading Company. In my collection development class it was stressed that keeping our personal belief system in check was very important. I am struggling with determining what is personal belief and what is research based. Deci and Cameron looked at many of the same studies and came to completely opposite conclusions. Part of my struggle is the waste of resources in making these trinkets and the zillions of catalogs I get weekly from Oriental Trading Company. I have call many times to cancel catalogs. As children's librarians we are care takers of public money and resources and expected to be knowledgeable about reading. Parents assume we are promoting reading in healthy ways. I want Johnny to be a life-long reader, but first he must pick up the book.

October 31, 2011

I have really enjoyed the readings for the gatekeeper discussion. My favorite article was Will the Least-Adult Please Stand Up? The idea of being an ethnographer is fascinating; to completely emerge yourself in a culture. The challenge of observation while being an active participant is tricky. How would an ethnographer deal with a bullying situation? Would they step out of their least-adult role and miss the opportunity to gain research or would they step in? Maybe it would depend on your topic of study.

I am very curious as to whether or not the parents or students had any choice in this research. The government of Taiwan is much different than our democratic society, they do not value autonomy as we do. I realize that for an adult to immerse themselves in the child's culture the barriers of language and culture close the gap. But, is it ethical of the researcher to continue with the research if the parents and children were not given a choice?

October 29, 2011

It is October and I am up to my ears in the Summer Library Program! Yesterday for work I attended the annual workshop put on by the state library to support local libraries and their summer efforts. After all the reading I have done for my 2 assignments, I am looking at the program a little differently. I don't feel the need to pull rabbits out of hats to get people to programs, but I do want to draw more people into the building to use our services. My goal for next summer is to somehow measure what we do and accomplish. I want hard numbers to support what works and what doesn't, so I am not just going through the motions and doing things how they have always been done. The research does not come down clearly against extrinsic incentives, but suggests that they harm long term motivation.

Again, my question is, what is the library's purpose for the summer program? Is it to make life-long readers, to promote reading for the summer, or free fun activities for the community. The answer to that question will affect what our program looks like. One article mentioned that we could do "summer reading" all year long. And, I think that is where I am leaning. Why pull out all the stops for only 6 weeks ? Encouraging reading and providing access to books is a year long goal and I want my department to reflect that.

Items to Research

• Investigate what research has been done since 2009 on the effects of incentives on SRP-Suzanne Stauffer claims in 2009 article that none has been done.
• Public library summer reading programs and the reading gap
• Search Terms: summer reading programs and public library-Academic Search Premier